Director
Mees Peijnenburg
Music (original)
Annelotte Coster
Cast
Pieter Embrechts, Celeste Holsheimer, Carice van Houten, Finn Vogels
Edition 2026
89'
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2026
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Drama
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Format:
DCP
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Dialogue:
Dutch
In Een familie (A Family), Mees Peijnenburg explores how a painful divorce affects not only parents but also their children, sixteen-year-old Nina and fourteen-year-old Eli. Told from both siblings’ perspectives, the film reveals their struggle between anger, loyalty and the need to be seen. A nuanced family drama built on intimate moments rather than big emotional gestures.
Earlier this year, Mees Peijnenburg left the Berlinale with a special mention from the youth jury in the 14plus category for his film A Family. In it, he shows how a divorce not only tears the parents apart, but also disrupts the lives of their children: sixteen-year-old Nina and her brother Eli, who is two years her junior. The parents believe that their acrimonious divorce is taking place over their children’s heads, but nothing could be further from the truth. The children want to be heard and seen, and are torn between anger and loyalty. Notably, Peijnenburg first tells the story from Nina’s perspective, then from Eli’s. This dual perspective helps to nuance the situation: no one in the family is solely a victim or solely to blame. What makes Een familie so powerful is that Peijnenburg opts not for grand dramatic gestures, but for small moments in which the consequences of a divorce become apparent.
Image gallery
Credits
Directors
Mees Peijnenburg
Music (original)
Annelotte Coster
Sound Designer
Arnout Colaert
Cast
Pieter Embrechts, Celeste Holsheimer, Carice van Houten, Finn Vogels
Scenario
Bastiaan Kroeger, Mees Peijnenburg
Director of Photography
Jasper Wolf
Editors
Imre Reutelingsperger, Imre Reutelingsperger
Producers
Iris Otten, Nathalie van der Burg, Sander van Meurs
Co producers
Michiel Dhont, Lukas Dhont, Pita de Leeuw
Sales agent
Paradise City Sales
Production studios
Pupkin Film, the Reunion
Distributor
Cinéart
More info
Dialogue
Dutch
Countries of production
Belgium, The Netherlands
Year
2026
Filmography
Mees Peijnenburg
A Family (2026), Payboy (short, 2021), Paradise Drifters (2020), Geen koningen in ons bloed (2015), Un creux dans mon coeur (short, 2015), Bloedhond (short, 2014), Cowboys janken ook (short, 2013), Wij Waren Wolven (short, 2012)
Technical Specs
Format
DCP
